About Marshall Brain
I am best known as the founder of HowStuffWorks. I started Howstuffworks.com in 1998 as a hobby, and it has been fun to watch it grow ever since.
Most Recent: Marshall Brain Postings
If you go to 300house.com you can learn about a fascinating project/contest whose goal is to design a $300 house for the world’s two billion poorest inhabitants: We started with five simple questions: * How can organic, self-built slums be turned into livable housing? * What might a house-for-the-poor look like? * How can world-class [...]
This quick video offers a perspective on where the philtrum (the two bumps under your nose and above your lips) comes from: According to the video: “This whole amazing process – the bits coming together to produce a recognizable human face – happens in the womb between two and three months.” Other people see the [...]
Peugeot EX1 Now Holds The Electric Car Lap Record At Nurburgring – “Peugeot EX1, the all-electric concept car now holds the electric car lap record at Germany’s Nürburgring circuit. The car was unveiled at the 2010 Paris Motor Show, and has already broken half a dozen speed records up till now….” GE and EADS to [...]
This video was taken in California recently and is titled “Earthquake Testing Trucks In Action” by the person who created it: He says: “This is going on wardlow avenue out in front of my house. I thought it was an earthquake at first and ran outside when my house started to shake.” So why are [...]
Let’s say you are an adult and you have always wanted to be a race car driver. Or let’s say you are a kid, without a driver’s license, and you would like to learn to be a race car driver. You have several options. One relatively inexpensive way is to start by driving a kart, [...]
What can you shoot out of a shotgun? It turns out that there are a surprising variety of things… Let’s say you are going to use a shotgun for hunting. A typical shotgun shell shoots a small handful of pellets. You pick the size of the pellets based on the size of what you are [...]
Eee Transformer Demand “Far” Outpacing Expectations For Asus – “Wondering why it’s so hard to find an Eee Transformer these days? It’s not because there’s not enough parts to make things, or that there’s a problem with the quality. According to Netbook News, who contacted Asus spokesperson David Chang, it’s just because the device is [...]
We’ve all seen water balloons pop in slow motion. But what if the water balloon is six feet in diameter? Here’s what happens: This leads to the obvious question: where do you get a balloon like that? Here is one place: Cloud Buster balloons [[[Jump to previous Funny...]]] If you would like to follow Brainstuff [...]
Can you take all the parts of a PC, fit them onto a board that is the size of a stick of gum and then charge $25 for it? Seeing is believing: The first line of the video is so simple, but also mind-blowing: This little device is the prototype version of a Raspberry Pi [...]
Plans for a 4,000mph underwater train from New York to London – “Vacuum Tube Train: A 4,000-mph magnetically levitated train could allow you to have lunch in Manhattan and still get to London in time for the theater, despite the 5-hour time difference. It’s not impossible: Norway has studied neutrally buoyant tunnels (concluding that they’re [...]
Recent Postings by Category
BrainStuff
- Thank You and Best Wishes to Marshall Brain
- Contest – Design a $300 house and win $25,000
- How the Philtrum works – the place under your nose where your face comes together
The Coolest Stuff on the Planet
- Traveling on the Orient Express
- Deep-fried Goodness at Carnival
- The Colors of the Running of the Bulls
Keep Asking
- Why can a 5 foot 8 inch man dunk a basketball on a 10 foot rim while some people of taller stature can’t?
- What happens to our sun once it runs out of fuel?
- How do we know the age of the universe?
Stuff Mom Never Told You
- Who invented the Christmas card?
- How the Kinsey Report Fueled Whiskey Sales
- How to Get Your Wedding Announcement into The New York Times
Stuff to Blow Your Mind
- Blow Your Mind: In the Lair of the Rat King
- Mandala: Memory Palace, Inception and Simulated Worlds
- Virgin Galactic: $200,000 Ticket to Ride
Stuff You Should Know
- The Southern Death Cult, the Maya and Georgia
- Deformed Baby Spider Brains
- Amazing Medical Conditions: Maple Syrup Urine Disorder
The Stuff of Genius
CarStuff
- Was Chrysler’s “It’s Halftime in America” Super Bowl commercial a little too political?
- Why is NASA studying car safety?
- Tips for in-car Navigation Systems
How-to Stuff
- How to Make the Most of a Gallery Crawl (When You’re on a Shoestring Budget)
- How to Swim with Dolphins (When Deep Water Terrifies You)
- How to Cure a Homemade Cookie Craving Without Turning on the Oven
PopStuff
- PopStuff Show Notes: Episode 40: Did movies ruin love?
- PopStuff Show Notes: Episode 39: Urban Legends
- PopStuff Show Notes: Episode 38: Defending Disney Princesses?
Stuff They Don't Want You To Know
Stuff to Change the World
- Who will own the Arctic?
- Obesity: The New Global Crisis
- Bill Gates Makes For A Pretty Decent Cartoon
Stuff You Missed in History Class
- Butch Cassidy: Should we read between the lines?
- Are we rooting for D.B. Cooper?
- Party Time: A Look at Unconventional Politics

